Bernard L. Madoff

News about Bernard L. Madoff, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 10, 2015

United States District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain in New York lets former Bernard Madoff associate Paul Kongsberg off without prison time for his role in Ponzi scheme. MORE

May. 29, 2015

Federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan sentences David G Friehling, auditor who rubber stamped Bernard L Madoff's Ponzi scheme for more than two decades, to year of home detention and an additional year of supervised release; light sentence reflects Friehling's extensive cooperation with federal prosecutors in case. MORE

Mar. 6, 2015

DealBook Online; Old Westbury, NY, estate of Peter B Madoff, younger brother of Bernard L Madoff, is sold for $3.5 million, several million dollars less than original asking price. MORE

Dec. 10, 2014

Federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain sentences Annette Bongiorno, ex-secretary of convicted Ponzi scheme operator Bernard L Madoff, to six years in prison, on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and other charges; says Bongiorno, while not a mastermind of scheme, should have known she was breaking the law when she backdated fictitious trades. MORE

Dec. 9, 2014

Daniel Bonventre, Bernard L Madoff's former director of operations for investments, is sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to forfeit symbolic amount of $155 billion for his participation in fraud. MORE

Aug. 9, 2014

Appeals court refuses to void two settlements benefiting hedge fund manager J Ezra Merkin and Fairfield Greenwich, both of whom sued 'feeder funds' that sent their money to fraudster Bernard Madoff; ruling is setback for Irving Picard, trustee seeking money for former customers of Madoff. MORE

May. 6, 2014

Mar. 24, 2014

The case centered on whether the associates of Bernard L. Madoff knowingly misled auditors and investors. They face decades in prison, although the judge will be able to use her discretion in sentencing. MORE

Jan. 10, 2014

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column expresses skepticism that JPMorgan Chase deliberately covered up fraud by Bernard L Madoff; examines newly released documents, saying they seem to indicate troubling fact that Madoff's crimes were lost in a vast bureaucracy. MORE

Jan. 7, 2014

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan struck a criminal settlement deal involving two felony violations and a $1.7 billion penalty, while regulators announced their own rebuke of the bank that included a $350 million settlement. MORE

Jan. 5, 2014

The expected deal between federal authorities and JPMorgan Chase would settle a case in which the bank is suspected of ignoring signs of Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. MORE

Dec. 11, 2013

Federal authorities and JPMorgan Chase are expected to settle charges over ties to Bernard L. Madoff, who operated a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme using an account at the bank. MORE

Dec. 8, 2013

Victims of the Bernard L Madoff Ponzi scheme, speaking from experience, advise other investors to diversify their savings, focus on what really matters in life and resist giving up; scheme stole $64.8 billion in paper wealth and at least $17.5 billion in cash losses; some victims are slowly recovering some savings, and rebuilding satisfying, if simpler, lives. MORE

Nov. 18, 2013

So-called indirect investors, representing about 70 percent of all the claims filed, are eligible for compensation from a $2.35 billion fund collected by the Justice Department. MORE

Oct. 23, 2013

Authorities suspect that JPMorgan Chase turned a blind eye to Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and they are said to be pursuing a type of prosecution deal that is nearly unheard-of for a large American bank. MORE

Oct. 9, 2013

Lawyers for Irving Picard argue that a ruling that he lacks standing to sue banks on claims that they abetted the fraud contradicts other court decisions. MORE

Sep. 26, 2013

The arrest of Paul J. Konigsberg, a longtime accountant in Bernard L. Madoff’s inner circle, represents a deepening of the federal criminal investigation of Mr. Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. MORE

Sep. 17, 2013

Among those still under scrutiny in connection with Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme are Shana Madoff Swanson, Mr. Madoff’s niece, and Paul J. Konigsberg, an accountant. MORE

Sep. 2, 2013

Irving L. Picard, who represents victims of Bernard Madoff’s huge Ponzi scheme, says in a filing that J. Ezra Merkin “willfully blinded” himself to signs of fraud. MORE

Aug. 25, 2013

Coming theater season features several plays inspired by imprisoned Ponzi schemer Bernard L Madoff. MORE

Aug. 18, 2013

Classically proportioned, seven-room duplex penthouse at 133 East 64 Street, where Bernard L Madoff once lived, is back on the market and listed for $17.25 million. MORE

Jul. 18, 2013

Westport National Bank agreed to pay $7.5 million to investors in a related case as a jury found it not liable for losses for accounts controlled by Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. MORE

Jul. 8, 2013

A lawsuit brought by investors who lost $60 million in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme claims that Westport National Bank failed to protect their money. MORE

Nov. 14, 2012

BNY Melon subsidiary Ivy Asset Management agrees to pay $210 million to settle lawsuits over its advice to clients to invest with Bernard L Madoff. MORE

Oct. 2, 2012

Federal prosecutors file more charges against five people who are accused of helping to defraud customers of Bernard L Madoff’s investment firm, as far back as the 1970s; five former employees of firm are Daniel Bonventre, Annette Bongiomo, Joann Crupi, Jerome O'Hara and George Perez. MORE

Aug. 2, 2012

Irving H Picard, trustee liquidating Bernard L Madoff's assets, argues that New York State’s $410 million settlement with the hedge fund manager J Ezra Merkin interferes with his exclusive right to seek money for the Ponzi scheme victims. MORE

Jul. 27, 2012

Irving H Picard, the trustee in charge of liquidating Bernard L Madoff’s assets, will ask a New York court for permission to distribute an additional $1.5 billion to $2.4 billion to investors who lost money due to fraudulent investments; fund run by Picard received an extra $5 billion in July following a settlement with the estate of a businessman who had benefited from Madoff’s fraud. MORE

Jun. 26, 2012

Joe Nocera Op-Ed column welcomes Supreme Court decision that will allow Irving Picard to pursue his strategy of clawing back false profits to compensate the victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme; decries fact that several big banks that were involved with the fraud will be allowed to walk away without suffering damages. MORE

Jun. 25, 2012

Hedge fund manager J Ezra Merkin, whose funds lost about $1.2 billion when Bernard L Madoff’s Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2008, agrees to pay $405 million over three years to compensate his investors; civil settlement was negotiated by the New York State attorney general's office. MORE

Mar. 20, 2012

Joe Nocera Op-Ed column holds that the New York Mets' beleaguered owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz acted rationally by reaching a settlement with the trustee managing the Madoff bankruptcy; notes that deal averts significant bad press for the Mets as the team tries desperately to find minority investors to shore up its debts. MORE

Mar. 20, 2012

Analysis of the settlement between the New York Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, and Irving H Picard, the trustee for Bernard L Madoff's victims; notes that the former adversaries are now on the same side because Picard can help the team by recouping up to $178 million for the club from so-called net winners. MORE

Mar. 19, 2012

Federal Court Judge Jed S Rakoff's ruling that burden of proof is on the New York Mets owners at trial to show they had acted in good faith may be enough to compel the beleaguered club to settle with the trustee for victims of Bernard L Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. MORE

Mar. 16, 2012

Wall Street veteran Noreen Harrington, whose tip in 2003 sparked a major investigation of mutual funds by New York attorney general's office, testifies that she warned New York Mets owners about investing further with Bernard L Madoff. MORE

Mar. 6, 2012

Federal Judge Jed S Rakoff rules that New York Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz must pay up to $83 million to the victims of Bernard L Madoff, and go to trial on the gravest accusation that they turned a blind eye to evidence of fraud during their many years of profitable investing with him. MORE

Feb. 28, 2012

Family of former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer David M Becker agrees to pay about $556,000 to settle claims over inherited money linked to Bernard L Madoff's Ponzi scheme. MORE

Feb. 21, 2012

Irving H Picard, the court-appointed trustee for victims of Bernard Madoff who is suing New York Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, points to evidence of the men’s implausibly unyielding faith in Madoff’s steady investment returns, and the men’s dependence on those returns to help finance their businesses and deepen their personal wealth. MORE

Feb. 11, 2012

Noreen Harrington, a chief officer for a hedge fund owned in part by New York Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, says she shared her concerns about Bernard L Madoff’s investment performance with her superiors; the men have been accused of improperly benefiting from their relationship with Madoff over years of investing with him, and of ignoring evidence he might have been engaged in wrongdoing. MORE

Feb. 7, 2012

Former stockbrocker John Maine is the sole expert witness for New York Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, as they battle accusations by the trustee for Bernard L Madoff’s victims that they turned a blind eye; submits report that investors like Wilpon and Katz would have no reason to suspect Madoff. MORE

Jan. 1, 2012

Author Geoffrey Wheatcroft Op-Ed article argues that the refusal to see what is known to be true has led to one disaster after another, from the Iraq war to the Bernie Madoff fraud to the subprime mortgage crisis; expresses hope that the new year will lead people to acknowledge truth instead of ignoring it. MORE

Dec. 11, 2011

Three years after the arrest of Bernard L Madoff, the Ponzi mastermind continues to haunt his victims, his family and himself; lawyers and prosecutors are still trying to unravel his scheme, victims are still hoping to recover money, and members of the Madoff family remain targets of public suspicion and hostility. MORE

Dec. 6, 2011

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column argues that it is intellectually dishonest to suggest that Bernard L Madoff’s fraud did not strongly contribute to the failures and losses of the New York Mets, including the team's financial inability to retain shortstop Jose Reyes, who is expected to sign a $106 million contract with Miami Marlins. MORE

Nov. 22, 2011

Former trader David Kugel, pleading guilty to fraud charges, agrees to cooperate with prosecutors, saying Bernard L Madoff's Ponzi scheme went back to early 1970s; he may earn leniency on possible 85-year prison term. MORE

Nov. 20, 2011

Andrew Goldman Talk interview with Bernie Madoff's former daughter-in-law Stephanie Madoff Mack, who has written the book The End of Normal, which chronicles her life before and after the Madoff scandal. MORE

Nov. 12, 2011

Securities and Exchange Commission disciplines eight employees for failing to uncover Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme over a 16-year period. MORE

Nov. 9, 2011

Justice Department decides not to investigate David M Becker, who participated in discussions about payouts to victims of Ponzi scheme of Bernard L Madoff despite his own financial interest in the result. MORE

Nov. 2, 2011

Judge Colleen McMahon of United States District Court in Manhattan rules that Irving H Picard did not have the legal right to pursue $20 billion in combined damage claims against JPMorgan Chase & Company and UBS; bars the court-appointed trustee from seeking billions in damages to help compensate victims of Bernard L Madoff's giant Ponzi scheme. MORE

Oct. 31, 2011

Ruth Madoff discusses rebuilding her life in Florida in wake of her husband Bernard L Madoff's conviction and imprisonment for largest Ponzi scheme in history. MORE

Oct. 27, 2011

Bernard L Madoff’s wife Ruth says she and her husband tried to kill themselves with overdoses of sedatives on Christmas Eve 2008, just after his Ponzi scheme was exposed. MORE

Other Coverage

Multimedia

A new document reveals that JPMorgan Chase and federal regulators fought over access to bank employee interviews, eventually pitting the Justice Department against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

A series of internal JPMorgan emails suggesting that employees had concerns about the bank’s ties to Bernard L. Madoff. Some of the emails surfaced in a lawsuit filed by the trustee for Mr. Madoff’s victims.